Just Like Me
by hpnutter
Summary: When Naruto hits his lowest moment, Sasuke reminds him of their similarities.  T for slight language.


Title: Just Like Me  
>Author: Lissy<br>Rated: T  
>Genre: FriendshipHurt/Comfort  
>Summary: When Naruto hits his lowest moment, Sasuke reminds him of their similarities.<br>A/N: Inspired by Tarzan, sugar, and lack of sleep. Please review.

Uchiha Sasuke walked towards his destination with purpose, ignoring any and all fangirls and villagers in his way. He scowled at the happy greetings and ignored the hypocritical festivities happening in the village on this day. It was October 10th, the day the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, saved the village of Konohagakure from being completely destroyed by the Kyuubi no Kitsune. As the Hokage, he gave his life to protect his home and his people. To honor and give thanks for said protection, the villagers of Konoha, specifically the Council, threw a big festival every year and shunned the very reason for their continued existence.

It was disgusting.

Uzumaki Naruto was Sasuke's best friend. It was an unspoken fact, and even Naruto and Sasuke didn't know exactly how their relationship had evolved to such a point from bitter rivals. After the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke had vowed to never let another person into his bleeding heart in an attempt to protect himself from further breaking. If there was one thing he'd learned from that night, it was that bonds and ties to people allowed him to be hurt in a way that seemed so much worse than any physical torture.

Naruto, of course, always had been and always will be a stubborn idiot. He didn't care that Sasuke had bonding issues, or that "he couldn't find a doctor to remove the stick up his ass" as the blond so colorfully put it, and had treated him no different. To Naruto, Sasuke wasn't the last remaining prominent and elite Uchiha, or the rookie of the year, or the totally hot brooding avenger. Sasuke was Sasuke, the bastard that didn't remember how to work his facial muscles into a smile.

Despite the glaring differences in their personalities, Naruto was what Sasuke needed to ground him firmly into sanity. His bubbly, idiotic nature countered Sasuke's depressed one in a twist of balance that not even Hatake Kakashi could have predicted. Together they became a formidable duo.

They were like an Oreo, really. Sasuke wouldn't be quite right without the crème filling.

That was his reason for glaring at anybody happy in sight. This village took for granted the luxury of safety against the Kyuubi no Kitsune and had the audacity to treat the person protecting them like shit. If it'd been Sasuke, well, he'd have let the damn fox have its wicked way with the hypocrites long ago. He didn't understand how Naruto dealt with the hate-filled stares, the harsh whispers, the pelted stones, _everything_. Sasuke himself had been victim to the disapproval of the village populace when he'd returned from Orochimaru, but even then the amount of hatred showed to him and the amount showed to Naruto was vastly different. It wasn't fair. Naruto never did anything but gave his loyalty to an unworthy village whereas Sasuke flipped them off and abandoned them. Why was it that his blond friend got the short end of the stick?

Shaking his head and glaring at a drunkard that stumbled in his path, Sasuke quickly made his way to Naruto's apartment. The blond always holed himself up, too aware that the villagers barely tolerated his presence moreso on this day than any others. It was a terrible way to spend his birthday, alone as was tradition for the past sixteen years of his life.

Well, this year would be different if Sasuke could help it. He couldn't offer him much since Sasuke had the skill of a Neanderthal when it came to offering people comfort or encouragement. That was another reason he and Naruto clicked so well—both were rather inept at the "normal" ways to help people and had developed a language to comfort each other. Before they knew it, _Suck it up_ became _You can spend the night at my place_, and _I don't care_ transformed into _We'll talk more later_. It was a secret code all their own, and they preferred it that way.

Despite his severe hatred to all kinds of sweets, Sasuke had taken the time to bake Naruto a birthday cake. He wasn't too sure how it came out, since he was more than positive that at least seven pieces of egg shell had cooked with the disgusting confection, but Naruto was a fan of chocolate and, well, it was the idiot's birthday. So, he'd sucked up all nausea, and attempted to make his best friend something he'd enjoy to go with the new kunai set he'd bought him. He should've just stuck with the kunai set. After the cake had baked, Sasuke had put the icing on too quick, making it melt into a hideous pile of sugar and the kanji he'd written in icing seemed to expand almost ineligibly. Next time, he'd have Sakura make the cake.

Reaching Naruto's apartment, Sasuke knocked briskly three times, paused, and then slammed his hand on it. Naruto opened the door immediately and yanked him into the small abode before slamming the door shut and locking it again. The blond blinked owlishly at the items in Sasuke's hand and cocked an eyebrow at the very light dusting of pink across Sasuke's face. It was unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Naruto hadn't studied the other boy for nearly nine years and came out of it knowing absolutely nothing about the last Uchiha's mannerisms and actions.

"Sasuke?" he murmured quietly, eyeing the covered packages curiously.

"Just take them," Sasuke hissed angrily, embarrassed.

Naruto let out a small chuckle and grabbed them. He squealed at the new kunai scent and ran to the kitchen to grab a fork to devour his cake. Sasuke's eyes softened slightly when Naruto came back with a fruit smoothie for him, knowing of the raven's aversions to sweets.

"Thanks, bastard," Naruto said, grinning widely and showing off his chocolate covered teeth. He took another bite and promptly choked, his azure eyes widening in alarm.

Sasuke leapt out of the sofa he'd sunk in and smacked Naruto on the back. "Don't you know how to _chew_?" he demanded, ignoring his pounding heart.

Naruto spat out a piece of egg shell. "Don't you know how to bake?" he asked back incredulously. "You could've killed me!"

Sasuke huffed and sat back down, Uchiha speak for _I'm an Uchiha; does it look like I know how to do such plebian tasks?_

Naruto clucked his tongue, Uzumaki speak for _I don't give a shit who you are; everybody should know how to cook._

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _My skills are killing people, not making cakes._

Naruto snorted. _I suppose not all Uchihas are geniuses._

Sasuke glared. _Bitch_.

Naruto smirked. _I know, right?_

Before they could continue their gesture conversation, a brick wrapped in paper came sailing through the window and landed on the living room floor. Immediately the two ninjas stood with their kunai out, alarmed. "DEMON!" someone screeched in an angry, drunken lisp.

Naruto flinched. Sasuke growled and made to hop out the window and break limbs when Naruto grabbed his arm, shook his head, and started to clean the mess.

Once it was clean, the two sat in silence. Sasuke frowned. _Why do you put up with that shit?_

Naruto shrugged. _It's always been this way._ Pain ebbed into his eyes. _I'm just a demon to them._

Sasuke stared before he moved closer to Naruto. Slowly, he grabbed his best friend's hand and lifted it next to his. He inspected it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I'm trying to see what makes you a demon," Sasuke said calmly. "From what I can see so far, you have two hands like me, ten fingers, ten toes, a nose, eyes, a mouth, a neck, other body parts, unmentionable organs. What makes you a demon? You look just like me."

Naruto's eyes widened before he smiled softly. "You're such a sap." _Thank you._

Sasuke shrugged. "Trying to find the facts." _I'm being honest, moron. You're just like me._


End file.
